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Francis Ford Coppola’s `Apocalypse Now’ and then
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I sat in the Egyptian Theater, and as Wagner blasted through the sound system in harmony
with explosion after explosion during Sergeant Kilgore’s air attack, I could hear a woman,
50 or 60-years old perhaps, weeping behind me.
Having seen this and so many other Vietnam films a number of times since I was young,
the subject matter and purpose of the film had long since dropped into the background for
me, and this particular scene had become nothing more than one example of cinematic
perfection. There are, after all, few sequences in film history that can compare to the
intensity and brilliance of Kilgore’s air strike.
But the woman behind me saw something else. She sobbed and gasped and tried to control
herself. On the screen, talk of surfing and six-foot peaks accompanied the killing and
murdering of Vietnamese villagers: men, women, and children, some innocent, some not. I
looked at my friend beside me, who was also crying, silently. I could not help but feel like
I was experiencing something new, something important, something I had missed before
then. The film was alive.
Those who have seen the original “Apocalypse Now” (1979) know how surrealistic and
dreamlike it can be at times. “Apocalypse Now Redux,” which is 53 minutes longer than
the original, is even more so. Its tone is skewed in a new direction, and creates a different
movie that feels much less like a war film and much more like a nightmare. The final
effectiveness of the new scenes, however, is another matter.
Throughout the new cut there are a number of bits and pieces that add character and life to
Willard’s (Martin Sheen) trip down river, but the bulk of the extra footage is in two entirely
new extended sequences. In the first, the crew finds a virtually abandoned medic base
where the Playboy Bunnies are stranded, and spends some time with them in exchange for
two barrels of fuel. There is a great exchange between the boat captain and Willard, as well
as some odd little bits that add to the general psychosis of the film and the war itself. But
then the scene switches to the soldiers and the Bunnies, and attempts to paradoxically use
humor to highlight the uncomfortable coupling of sex and death.
This sounds convoluted and pretentious because it is. The scene fails grossly. The Bunnies
are surprisingly stereotypical and idiotic, and are so self-absorbed that they barely notice
the soldiers stripping them naked. It seems as if it’s trying to be funny, or at least evoke
some sort of negative reaction in us to sex and humor amidst death. Perhaps this could
have been interesting, but Coppola was correct in leaving it out of the first cut. It brings the
movie to a halt, and feels silly instead of ironic.
The second extended scene involves a group of French soldiers and their families that live
in a mansion in the middle of the jungle. This sequence, like the Bunny scene, brings the
movie to a dead stop. Overt political messages abound. It is however one of the more
surreal portions of the film, and interesting for its tone and oddities, if nothing else.
I have long felt that “Apocalypse Now” approaches perfection in two particular scenes. The
first is Kilgore’s air attack, which I’ve already mentioned. The second is the senseless,
brutal slaughter of a group of Vietnamese farmers suspected to be gunrunners over what
turns out to be nothing more than a puppy dog. These two gut-wrenching, heartbreaking
scenes speak volumes and achieve on their own nearly everything the rest of the film
attempts to do. They remain in the new cut, with a few new bits and pieces with Kilgore
during the air attack (he helps an injured Vietnamese child and rants about surfing.)
So I had a visceral response to this version just as I’ve always had to the original (though
this particular experience was more acute because of the weeping around me), but as I left
the theater, I had to wonder which version is superior. It may be that they are simply two
different movies of equal merit.
The original cut, as long-winded as it is, feels economical compared to the “Redux”
version, and is overall a darker, more brooding movie.
But the “Redux” includes everything from the first version, puts a new spin on it, and
despite the unnecessary, distracting portions of the two extended scenes, separates itself
with its own internal logic and sequences that are simultaneously realistic and dreamlike.
If I could sum up the difference between the two versions in one sentence, I would say:
The original is alarming, the “Redux” is psychotic.
In any case, every fan of this movie should definitely check it out. There are a bunch of
new footage nuggets, and they add enough to sustain interest through the three hours and
17 minutes.
On a side note, the documentary “Hearts of Darkness,” about the making of
“Apocalypse Now,” should also be seen, and in my opinion, is better than the film itself.
In it, we see that the movie’s insanity is matched only by Coppola’s.
“Apocalypse Now Redux” will be available on DVD Nov. 20.
Mark Hitz